Heavenfaced
by SylviaBronte
Summary: "When Jemma stepped into the room, he immediately found himself pitying her. She was visibly trembling, wrapped in a small baby pink blanket." Jemma has a nightmare, and goes to Grant for comfort. There's also a bit of headcanon to start with.


**AN: This isn't really overly shippy, this is just brotp. Big brother Ward, really. I guess it can be seen romantically if you want, so go nuts. Please don't forget to review!**

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Night-time was often long and drawn out on the Bus. May was used to it, having spent years in the field beforehand. Even if all she did was drive the Bus, she could survive for days on end without sleep. She may need a few cups of coffee and power-naps with the Bus on autopilot to get her through, but she had yet to let the team down in any way.

Grant usually went to bed at a reasonable time, normally after reading yet another one of the books that his SO had sent for him, or beating the hell out of a punching bag. On occasion he would take some papers over to Coulson, read through whatever S.H.I.E.L.D. sent for him, or crack open a beer.

Fitzsimmons may have normally been seen as _one_ rather than separate people, but their night-time routines were surprisingly different. Leo was a night owl that acted like a bear with a sore head in the morning if he couldn't have his coffee, and even then he was prone to bouts of crankiness. Jemma, however, was an early bird that had been known to fall asleep wherever she was working if it went past eleven. Even without coffee, she would be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in the mornings. This normally meant that Leo was up a lot later than she was, but it wasn't unknown for them to stay up together well past midnight if they were doing something of vital importance, or if something was too exciting to put down for the night.

Skye was normally the last one into bed, aside from Coulson and May. Despite the fact that May was still incredibly wary of her, and Coulson was often busy, she made a point of saying goodnight to them. May secretly liked it. She would show no signs of acknowledging Skye when she came into the cockpit, but there would always be the ghost of a smile on her lips when she left. Coulson always smiled and gave her a nod, and if he wasn't overly concentrating on anything he too would say goodnight.

Nobody spoke a lot in the night. May never said a word, the only time Coulson really spoke was on the phone, Grant would normally just speak when spoken to, Skye kept herself to herself, and Fitzsimmons would occasionally make work-related small talk until one (almost always Jemma) went to bed. They were peaceful, just the way the team liked it.

Grant had never had any problems sleeping. He wasn't the type that focused on 'inner demons', or any of that bullshit that would keep him awake. He'd sometimes stay awake willingly for a while, perhaps read another page or two of his book, before turning out the light and going to sleep the minute his head hit the pillow.

It didn't take a lot to wake him up, which was probably why he responded so quickly to the gentle knock on his bedroom door. A quick glance at the digital clock on his bedside table informed him that it was a few minutes past two in the morning.

"Agent Ward?"

The tell-tale British accent gave her away immediately. He sat up in bed, running his fingers through his dark hair. Grant was thankful that he was wearing a white shirt and pajama pants, he normally just went topless, sometimes only wore his underwear.

"Door's open."

When Jemma stepped into the room, he immediately found himself pitying her. She was visibly trembling, wrapped in a small baby pink blanket. She wore white flannel pajamas with a girly rose print, and fluffy pink bunny slippers that almost matched the blanket. Her brown hair was lightly mussed from sleep, and her eyes were red-rimmed and watery. He'd never seen her look so fragile.

"What happened?" he asked immediately, sitting up a little straighter.

"Nightmare."

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"Why'd you come to me? Why not Fitz?"

Jemma swallowed hard. "L-Leo doesn't like it when I disturb his sleep. Skye's hard to wake up, Coulson's busy, May's on the stick..." She was clearly becoming more and more upset as she went on, her voice breaking on the last word.

"Okay, okay." Grant patted the space beside him, and she wasted no time in perching beside him, her knees drawn to her chest. He observed her, silent and discreet. She looked just like a vulnerable child. "You wanna talk about it?"

Jemma shook her head slowly. "I just need to be with someone."

He sighed heavily. "You wanna stay here?"

She nodded without hesitation.

Grant took the blanket from her shoulders, which caused her to jolt out of the exhausted trance she had momentarily slipped into. He all but swaddled her with it, and pulled her into his strong arms. Jemma clearly needed the comfort. He wasn't quite sure how to go about providing comfort, seeing as he'd never really done so before, but she seemed content. Slowly, he felt the tenseness in her small frame ebb away until she was completely relaxed in his arms, her head lolling almost lifelessly against his chest.

"I didn't want to disturb you. I'm sorry." the small woman piped up after what felt like an eternity.

"Coulson's always trying to get us to bond, so don't worry about it."

The brunette allowed herself to chuckle softly. "I suppose so."

When he tried to lie down with her, she tensed up again. "What are you doing?" she asked in a rush.

"Sleeping? I'm not that much of an asshole. Like I'd try anything with you, too weird. You're more like a little sister."

Jemma laughed quietly. "Oh, so you fancy being 'big brother Ward'?"

The man simply shrugged nonchalantly, and lay back down. This time, she didn't resist.

They stayed like that for the rest of the night, Grant lying on his back with an arm wrapped loosely around Jemma, whose face was pressed into his side. She fell asleep minutes before he did, making sweet snuffling noises that evoked an amused, borderline fond smile.

He woke up the next morning to the alarm going off at 7.30, only to discover that Jemma was gone, leaving behind her faintly lingering scent and a neatly scrawled note in her place.

_Thank you for last night._

_JS_

Below was a smiley face, which was typical Jemma behaviour. According to Leo, she'd once gone through a girly phase of dotting her i's with little smiley faces that had driven him insane. She'd only stopped when Coulson informed her that smiley-faced i's weren't exactly S.H.I.E.L.D. protocol, nor did the secreterial team appreciate it.

When he finally left his room, fully dressed and stumbling like a zombie to the coffee machine, he felt a gentle tap on his shoulder.

"Good morning, Agent Ward!"

Jemma stood before him, smiling happily. She offered him a steaming cup of coffee. "Coulson says that we'll be back at the Slingshot within the next two hours."

"Yeah, good." He nodded, starting to drink the coffee immediately. Grant winced slightly as the scalding drink practically burned away half his tastebuds.

"That's too hot to drink! Did it hurt?" She frowned, crossing her arms.

He shrugged his shoulders.

"I like to mask my pain in front of beautiful women."


End file.
